Favorite Recipes

Sculpture Bread Bread Sculpture Dough The dough recipe is enough for one large (about 2 lb.) loaf. In deciding your design, choose a form that you can put together with simple geometric shapes -- ropes, rounds, ovals & oblongs of dough. Keep the outline bold, the detail simple. For a maximum-size sculpture, you’ll need to overlap two rimless baking sheets, adjusting them to fit your oven while leaving a 1 inch space all around for heat circulation. Wrap the sheets w/ foil. It may help to draw a full-size patter on a sheet of parchment that fits the overlapped sheets. Or, a half sheet pan should be sufficient for the sculpture. This is an easy dough to work with. 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1/4 c. warm water -- about 110℉ 3/4 c. butter or margarine at room temperature 1/2 c. sugar 1/3 c. warm milk -- about 110℉ 1/2 tsp. salt 5 lg. eggs 5-5-1/2 c. all purpose flour, unsifted 1 egg beaten w/ 1 Tbsp. water for glaze In a lg. bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let sit for a few minutes then stir in next 5 ingredients until thoroughly blended. Gradually beat in about 4-3/4 c. flour to make a stiff dough -- DO NOT KNEAD. Cover & let dough rise until doubled -- about 1-1/2 hrs. Beat down to release air; then knead on a lightly floured board until smooth and satiny, 10-20 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. May do this using dough hook in your stand mixer if you have one. Divide dough into portions to fit your design, saving a small piece for decorative detail. Build sculpture on the greased, foil-covered, overlapped baking sheets. I use parchment paper over the greased pan for easy removal after it’s baked. For a solid area, shape dough into a ball and place smooth side up on the foil; then pat or roll out to achieve desired dimension and form, making no thicker than about 1 inch or bread may crack during baking. Don’t forget, this is going to rise before and during the baking process. Keep shapes about half as plump as you’ll want them to be at the end product. Butt pieces of dough close together if they are to be joined. Leave at least 2 inches space between parts you don’t want to join. To attach small, round details, ie. eyes, noses, beaks, feet, shape these into tear drops and set, points down, into holes poked into background dough. To create surface detail, such as mermaids scales or to separate areas like fingers or feathers, snip dough w/ kitchen scissors held at an angle. Roll pieces of dough between your hands to make strands for arms, legs or hair. Try twisting, curling or braiding strands. Cover sculpture lightly and let rise in a warm place until puffy (about 30 minutes). Brush gently w/ egg mixture. Bake in a preheated 350℉ oven for about 30 minutes or until bread is richly browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes; then slip a spatula beneath loaf & gently slide onto rack to cool completely. Makes 1 lg. loaf.